Priming Your Pieces: Understanding And Fixing Your Business Weaknesses

It is not something that anybody likes to do. But when you are running a business, you've got to learn how to hold the mirror up to yourself. For the first 12 to 18 months of any business' existence, there can be that feeling of flying by the seat of your pants. When you overcome this difficult period, you have to learn to address weaknesses. But more importantly, you need to turn these weaknesses into strengths. And while we can't be good at everything, it can be demoralizing to address where we are going wrong. So how can we do this in a constructive manner?

Get Guidance From An Exterior Source

Trust is pivotal to business progression. When we are looking to address our failings, it's important to find an exterior source that is impartial. When you get the guidance of someone that you trust it could become heated and personal. And when we start to get exterior help through technical processes whether it's something like an Office 365 assessment or putting a key business process out for feedback, guidance from an exterior source can result in more constructive criticism.

It is difficult to bring someone in from the outside but when they are impartial, this can yield significant results. If you decide to bring someone in that you can trust that you've also got a long working relationship with, it's important to be prepared for that person to pick holes in your process.

Learning To Accept Your Weaknesses

Firstly, you have to recognize that there is a weakness. Many entrepreneurs bury their heads in the sand and deny that there is any problem. But when you decide to face up to the fact that you have weaknesses but also determine what they are, this can be an incredibly painful procedure. But admitting that there are weaknesses is the first step to turning it around. It could be to do with business processes but it could also be to do with your leadership skills. Nobody likes to hear that they are bad at something. But being bad at something is where you learn to make it better.

Bringing In People That Have The Right Skills

When you lack something, you can either learn to do it or you can find someone that already has the skills. This is where outsourcing comes in handy. When you outsource a process to a company that can do it, it becomes a lesson for you but it also gives you a unique perspective on the situation. It also gives you the chance to empower people that work for you. There is a correlation between people that ignore their weaknesses and those that refuse to delegate.

As soon as you start to bring people in that can achieve what you want, you're not just getting the job done, but you are putting your trust in these people. This is an important hurdle for anybody to jump over when addressing their weaknesses..